1994 Italian general election

The 1994 Italian general election was held on 27 and 28 March 1994 to elect members of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic for the 12th legislature. Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right coalition won a large majority in the Chamber of Deputies but just missed winning a majority in the Senate.

1994 Italian general election

← 1992 27–28 March 1994 1996 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 630 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 316 seats needed for a majority All 315 elective seats in the Senate 163 seats needed for a majority[a]
Registered	48,135,041 (C) · 41,795,730 (S)
Turnout	41,546,290 (C) · 86.3% (1.1 pp) 35,873,375 (S) · 85.8% (1.0 pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Silvio Berlusconi Achille Occhetto Mario Segni Party Forza Italia PDS Segni Pact Alliance PdL – PdBG Progressives Pact for Italy Leader since 18 January 1994 21 June 1988[b] 5 January 1994 Leader's seat Roma Centrale (C) Borgo Panigale (C) Sardegna (C)[c] Seats won 366 (C) / 156 (S) 213 (C) / 122 (S) 46 (C) / 31 (S) Constituency vote 17,746,612 (C) 14,110,705 (S) 12.632,680 (C) 10,881,320 (S) 6,019,038 (C) 5,519,090 (S)  % and swing 46.1% (C) 42.6% (S) 32.8% (C) 32.9% (S) 15.6% (C) 16.7% (S) Party vote 16,585,516 (C) 13,308,244 (C) 6,098,986 (C)  % and swing 42.8% (C) 34.3% (C) 15.8% (C)
Results of the single-member constituencies in the Chamber of Deputies (left) and Senate (right).
Prime Minister before election Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Independent Prime Minister after the election Silvio Berlusconi Forza Italia

The Italian People's Party, the renamed Christian Democracy (DC), which had dominated Italian politics for almost half a century, was decimated. It took only 29 seats versus 206 for the DC two years earlier—easily the worst defeat a sitting government in Italy has ever suffered, and one of the worst ever suffered by a Western European governing party.

New electoral system

A new electoral system was introduced in these elections, after a referendum in 1993 which repealed the "supermajority clause" concerning Senate elections. The clause had meant that Senate elections were conducted using de facto pure proportional representation. As a result of this change, the Senate now elected 75% of its seats via plurality voting system in single-member constituencies, with the remaining 25% assigned proportionally in a compensatory nature. Parliament passed a new electoral law for the Chamber of Deputies to bring it more in line with the Senate, assigning 75% of the seats via plurality voting, with the remaining 25% assigned proportionally in a supplementary manner using a minimum threshold of 4% of the vote. The new electoral system was nicknamed Mattarellum after Sergio Mattarella, who was the official proponent.

Background

See also: Mani pulite and Political career of Silvio Berlusconi

In 1992, the five pro-Western governing parties (Christian Democracy, the Italian Socialist Party, the Italian Social-Democratic Party, the Italian Republican Party, and the Italian Liberal Party) lost much of their electoral strength almost overnight due to a large number of judicial investigations concerning the financial corruption of many of their foremost members. This led to a general expectation that upcoming elections would be won by the Democratic Party of the Left, the heirs to the former Italian Communist Party, and their Progressives coalition unless there was an alternative.

On 26 January 1994, the media magnate Silvio Berlusconi announced his decision to enter politics, ("enter the field", in his own words) presenting his own political party, Forza Italia, on a platform focused on defeating "the communists". His political aim was to convince the voters of the Pentapartito, i.e. the usual five governing parties who were shocked and confused by Mani Pulite scandals, that Forza Italia offered both novelty and the continuation of the pro-Western free-market policies followed by Italy since the end of World War II.

Shortly after he decided to enter the political arena, investigators into the Mani Pulite affair were said to be close to issuing warrants for the arrest of Berlusconi and senior executives of his business group. During his years of political career Berlusconi has repeatedly stated that the Mani Pulite investigations were led by communist prosecutors who wanted to establish a Soviet-style government in Italy.^[1][2]

In order to win the election, Berlusconi formed two separate electoral alliances: Pole of Freedoms (Polo delle Libertà) with the Northern League (Lega Nord) in northern Italian districts, and another, the Pole of Good Government (Polo del Buon Governo), with the post-fascist National Alliance (Alleanza Nazionale; heir to the Italian Social Movement) in central and southern regions.^[3] In a shrewd pragmatic move, he did not ally with the latter in the North because the League disliked them. As a result, Forza Italia was allied with two parties that were not allied with each other.

Berlusconi launched a massive campaign of electoral advertisements on his three TV networks. He subsequently won the elections, with Forza Italia garnering 21% of the popular vote, the highest percentage of any single party.^[4] One of the most significant promises that he made in order to secure victory was that his government would create "one million more jobs".

On the other side, the center-left Progressives led by Achille Occhetto, also called "the Joyful War Machine", was composed by the two party born from the dissolution of the Italian Communist Party: the Democratic Party of the Left and Communist Refoundation Party. Since the alliance was sure of victory, based his campaign accusing the communicative power of Silvio Berlusconi.

Main coalitions and parties

Coalition		Party		Main ideology	Party leader	Coalition leader
	Pole of Freedoms – Pole of Good Government		Forza Italia (FI)	Liberal conservatism	Silvio Berlusconi	Silvio Berlusconi
			National Alliance (AN)[d]	National conservatism	Gianfranco Fini
			Northern League (LN)[e]	Regionalism	Umberto Bossi
			Christian Democratic Centre (CCD)[f]	Christian democracy	Pier Ferdinando Casini
			Union of the Centre (UdC)[f]	Liberalism	Raffaele Costa
			Liberal Democratic Pole (PLD)[f]	Liberalism	Adriano Teso
	Progressives		Democratic Party of the Left (PDS)	Democratic socialism	Achille Occhetto	Achille Occhetto
		Communist Refoundation Party (PRC)	Communism	Fausto Bertinotti
		Federation of the Greens (FdV)	Green politics	Carlo Ripa di Meana
		Italian Socialist Party (PSI)	Social democracy	Ottaviano Del Turco
		The Network (LR)	Anti-corruption politics	Leoluca Orlando
		Democratic Alliance (AD)	Social liberalism	Willer Bordon
		Social Christians (CS)[g]	Christian socialism	Pierre Carniti
		Socialist Rebirth (RS)[h]	Social democracy	Giorgio Benvenuto
	Pact for Italy		Italian People's Party (PPI)	Christian democracy	Mino Martinazzoli	Mario Segni
		Segni Pact (PS)	Liberalism	Mario Segni

Results

Berlusconi's coalition won a decisive victory over the progressive one, becoming the first centre-right alliance to win a general election in Italy since the end of the Second World War. The Pole of Freedoms won in the main regions of Italy: in the North the strongest parties were the regionalist Northern League and Forza Italia, which was also able to win in all provinces of Sicily, while in the South the National Alliance received more votes. The Alliance of Progressive confirmed its predominance in the "Red Belt" regions of central Italy, and in the South.

Chamber of Deputies

Overall results

← Summary of the 27 March 1994 Chamber of Deputies election results →

Results by party Results by coalition
Coalition		Party		Proportional			First-past-the-post			Total seats	+/–
				Votes	%	Seats	Votes	%	Seats
	Pole of Freedoms – Pole of Good Government		Forza Italia (FI)	8,136,135	21.01	30[i]	17,746,612	46.09	87	111[j]	New
			Christian Democratic Centre (CCD)						21	27	New
			National Alliance (AN)	5,214,133	13.47	23[k]			87	110	+75
			Northern League (LN)	3,235,248	8.36	11[l]			107	118	+62
		Total seats				64			302	366	–
	Progressives		Democratic Party of the Left (PDS)	7,881,646	20.36	38[m]	12.632,680	32.81	87	125[n]	+17
			Communist Refoundation Party (PRC)	2,343,946	6.05	11			27	38	+4
			Federation of the Greens (FdV)	1,047,268	2.70	0			11	11	−5
			Italian Socialist Party (PSI)	849,429	2.19	0			15	15[o]	−77
			The Network (LR)	719,841	1.86	0			8	8	−4
			Democratic Alliance (AD)	456,114	1.18	0			16	16	New
		Total seats				49			164	213	–
	Pact for Italy		Italian People's Party (PPI)	4,287,172	11.07	29	6,019,038	15.63	4	33	−146
			Segni Pact (PS)	1,811,814	4.68	13			0	13	New
		Total seats				42			4	46	–
	South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)			231,842	0.60	0	188,017	0.49	3	3	±0
	Southern Action League (LAM)			59,873	0.15	0	46,820	0.13	1	1	+1
	Aosta Valley (VdA)			—	—	0	43,700	0.11	1	1	±0
Total										630	–

Detailed results

First-past-the-post

Party or coalition		Votes	%	Seats
	Progressives (P)	12,632,680	32.81	164
	Pole of Freedoms (PdL)	8,767,720	22.77	164
	Pact for Italy (PpI)	6,019,038	15.63	4
	Pole of Good Government (PdBG)	5,732,890	14.89	129
	National Alliance (AN)	2,566,848	6.67	8
	Forza Italia (FI)	679,154	1.76	1
	Pannella List (LP)	432,667	1.12	0
	South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)	188,017	0.49	3
	Social Democracy for the Freedoms (PSDI–FDS)	147,493	0.38	0
	Southern Action League (LAM)	46,820	0.13	1
	Aosta Valley (VdA)	43,700	0.11	1
	Others	1,247,131	3.24	0
Total		38,504,158	100.00	475
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Proportional

Party		Votes	%	Seats
	Forza Italia (FI)	8,136,135	21.01	30
	Democratic Party of the Left (PDS)	7,881,646	20.36	38
	National Alliance (AN)	5,214,133	13.47	23
	Italian People's Party (PPI)	4,287,172	11.07	29
	Northern League (LN)	3,235,248	8.36	11
	Communist Refoundation Party (PRC)	2,343,946	6.05	11
	Segni Pact (PS)	1,811,814	4.68	13
	Pannella List (LP)	1,359,283	3.51	0
	Federation of the Greens (FdV)	1,047,268	2.70	0
	Italian Socialist Party (PSI)	849,429	2.19	0
	The Network (LR)	719,841	1.86	0
	Democratic Alliance (AD)	456,114	1.18	0
	South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)	231,842	0.60	0
	Social Democracy for Freedoms (PSDI–FDS)	179,495	0.46	0
	Program Italy (PI)	151,328	0.39	0
	Lombard Alpine League (LAL)	136,782	0.35	0
	Venetian Autonomy League (LAV)	103,764	0.27	0
	Southern Action League (LAM)	59,873	0.15	0
	Others	517,780	1.34	0
Total		38,720,893	100.00	155
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Popular vote (First-past-the-post) P   32.81% PdL   22.77% PpI   15.63% PdBG   14.89% AN   6.67% FI   1.76% Pannella   1.12% Others   4.35%

Popular vote (Proportional) FI–CCD   21.01% PDS   20.36% AN   13.47% PPI   11.07% LN   8.36% PRC   6.05% Segni   4.68% Pannella   3.51% FdV   2.70% PSI   2.19% Rete   1.86% AD   1.18% Others   3.56%

FPTP results by constituency

Constituency	Total seats	Seats won
		PdL–PdBG	P	PpI	Others
Abruzzo	11	1	10
Aosta Valley	1				1
Apulia	34	23	10		1
Basilicata	5	1	4
Calabria	17	7	10
Campania 1	25	10	15
Campania 2	22	7	12	3
Emilia-Romagna	32	3	29
Friuli-Venezia Giulia	10	10
Lazio 1	32	29	3
Lazio 2	11	11
Liguria	14	7	7
Lombardy 1	31	31
Lombardy 2	32	32
Lombardy 3	11	10	1
Marche	12		12
Molise	3	2	1
Piedmont 1	19	14	5
Piedmont 2	17	17
Sardinia	14	9	4	1
Sicily 1	20	16	4
Sicily 2	21	21
Trentino-Alto Adige	8	5			3
Tuscany	29		29
Umbria	7		7
Veneto 1	22	22
Veneto 2	15	14	1
Total	475	302	164	4	5

PR results by constituency

Constituency	Total seats	Seats won
		PdL–PdBG	P	PpI
Abruzzo	3	2		1
Apulia	10	1	5	4
Basilicata	2	1		1
Calabria	6	2	2	2
Campania 1	8	4	2	2
Campania 2	7	4	1	2
Emilia-Romagna	9	4	4	1
Friuli-Venezia Giulia	3	1	1	1
Lazio 1	10	1	6	3
Lazio 2	3	1	1	1
Liguria	6	3	2	1
Lombardy 1	10	4	4	2
Lombardy 2	11	5	3	3
Lombardy 3	4	2	1	1
Marche	4	2	1	1
Molise	1			1
Piedmont 1	6	3	2	1
Piedmont 2	6	3	2	1
Sardinia	4	1	1	2
Sicily 1	7	3	2	2
Sicily 2	7	3	2	2
Trentino-Alto Adige	2	1		1
Tuscany	11	5	4	2
Umbria	2	2
Veneto 1	8	3	2	3
Veneto 2	5	3	1	1
Total	155	64	49	42

Senate of the Republic

Overall results

← Summary of the 27 March 1994 Senate of the Republic election results →

Results by party Results by coalition
Coalition		Party		First-past-the-post			Proportional Seats	Total seats	+/–
				Votes	%	Seats
	Pole of Freedoms – Pole of Good Government		Northern League (LN)	13,342,940[p]	40.34[q]	128	28	60	+35
			National Alliance (AN)					48	+32
			Forza Italia (FI)					36[r]	New
			Christian Democratic Centre (CCD)					12	New
		Total seats						156	–
	Progressives		Democratic Party of the Left (PDS)	10,881,320	32.90	96	26	76[s]	+12
			Communist Refoundation Party (PRC)					18	−2
			Italian Socialist Party (PSI)					9[t]	−40
			Federation of the Greens (FdV)					7	+3
			Democratic Alliance (AD)					6	New
			The Network (LR)					6	+3
		Total seats						122	–
	Pact for Italy (PpI)			5,519,090	16.69	3	28	31	−64
	Pannella List (LP)			767,765	2.32	0	1	1	+1
	Lombard Alpine League (LAL)			246,046	0.74	0	1	1	±0
	South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)			217,137	0.66	3	0	3	±0
	Magris List (Magris)			61,400	0.19	1	0	1	New
	Aosta Valley (VdA)			27,493	0.08	1	0	1	±0
Total								315	–

Detailed results

Party or coalition		Votes	%	Seats
				FPTP	Proportional
	Progressives (P)	10,881,320	32.90	96	26
	Pole of Freedoms (PdL)	6,570,468	19.87	74	8
	Pact for Italy (PpI)	5,519,090	16.69	3	28
	Pole of Good Government (PdBG)	4,544,573	13.74	56	19
	National Alliance (AN)	2,077,934	6.28	0	8
	Pannella List (LP)	767,765	2.32	0	1
	Pensioners' Party (PP)	250,637	0.76	0	0
	Lombard Alpine League (LAL)	246,046	0.74	0	1
	South Tyrolean People's Party (SVP)	217,137	0.66	3	0
	Venetian Autonomy League (LAV)	165,370	0.50	0	0
	Federalist Greens (VF)	100,418	0.30	0	0
	Sardinian Action Party (PSd'Az)	88,225	0.27	0	0
	Natural Law Party (PLN)	86,579	0.26	0	0
	Social Democracy for Freedoms (PSDI–FDS)	80,264	0.24	0	0
	The League of Angela Bossi	72,455	0.22	0	0
	Greens Greens (VV)	68,218	0.21	0	0
	Veneto Autonomous Region Movement (MVRA)	64,149	0.19	0	0
	Magris List (Magris)	61,400	0.19	1	0
	Southern Action League (LAM)	54,395	0.16	0	0
	League for Piedmont	49,505	0.15	0	0
	Aosta Valley (VdA)	27,493	0.08	1	0
	Others	931,143	2.82	0	0
Total		33,074,549	100.00	232	83
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Popular vote P   32.90% PdL   19.87% PpI   16.69% PdBG   13.74% AN   6.28% Pannella   2.32% Others   8.20%

FPTP by constituency

Constituency	Total seats	Seats won
		PdL–PdBG	P	PpI	Others
Piedmont	17	12	5
Aosta Valley	1				1
Lombardy	35	35
Trentino-Alto Adige	6	3			3
Veneto	17	17
Friuli-Venezia Giulia	5	4			1
Liguria	6	2	4
Emilia-Romagna	15	1	14
Tuscany	14		14
Umbria	5		5
Marche	6		6
Lazio	21	16	5
Abruzzo	5		5
Molise	2		2
Campania	22	7	13	2
Apulia	16	9	7
Basilicata	5	1	4
Calabria	8	1	7
Sicily	20	17	3
Sardinia	6	3	2	1
Total	232	128	96	3	5

PR results by constituency

Constituency	Total seats	Seats won
		PpI	PdL–PdBG	P	Others
Piedmont	6	2	2	2
Lombardy	12	3	1	6	2
Trentino-Alto Adige	1	1
Veneto	6	2	1	3
Friuli-Venezia Giulia	2	1		1
Liguria	3	1	2
Emilia-Romagna	6	2	4
Tuscany	5	2	3
Umbria	2	1	1
Marche	2	1	1
Lazio	7	2	1	4
Abruzzo	2		2
Campania	8	3	3	2
Apulia	6	2	2	2
Basilicata	2	1	1
Calabria	3	1	2
Sicily	7	2		5
Sardinia	3	1	1	1
Total	83	28	27	26	2

Leaders' races

1994 Italian general election (C): Rome Centre
Candidate		Coalition	Party	Votes	%
	Silvio Berlusconi	Pole	FI	34,354	46.29
	Luigi Spaventa	Progressives	PDS	29,914	40.10
	Alberto Michelini	Pact for Italy	PS	9,566	12.82
	Others			593	0.79
Total				74,607	100.0
Turnout				77,562	77.19
	Pole gain
Source: Ministry of the Interior

1994 Italian general election (C): Bologna – Borgo Panigale
Candidate		Coalition	Party	Votes	%
	Achille Occhetto	Progressives	PDS	52,997	59.77
	Pier Ferdinando Casini	Pole	CCD	17,925	20.22
	Alfredo Ruocco	None	AN	7,388	8.33
	Maria Gualandi	Pact for Italy	PPI	7,133	8.04
	Oliviero Toscani	None	LP	3,225	3.64
Total				88,668	100.0
Turnout				91,571	95.03
	Progressives gain
Source: Ministry of the Interior

1994 Italian general election (C): Sassari
Candidate		Coalition	Party	Votes	%
	Carmelo Porcu	Pole	AN	30,623	36.14
	Mario Segni	Pact for Italy	PS	26,776	31.60
	Gavino Angius	Progressives	PDS	17,570	20.73
	Giacomo Spissu	None	PSd'Az	6,952	8.20
	Gavino Sale	None	ParIS	1,185	1.40
	Giovanni Conoci	None	LR	966	1.14
	Others			664	0.78
Total				84,736	100.0
Turnout				89,504	86.02
	Pole gain
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Aftermath

Contrary to its success in the Chamber, the Pole failed to win a majority in the Senate. Nevertheless, the Berlusconi I Cabinet obtained a vote of confidence also in the Senate, thanks to the abstention of four PPI senators (Vittorio Cecchi Gori, Stefano Cusumano, Luigi Grillo and Tomaso Zanoletti), who decided not to take part in the vote. The vote of the Senators for life was not decisive, as three (Gianni Agnelli, Francesco Cossiga and Giovanni Leone) voted in favour of the government, three were absent (Carlo Bo, Norberto Bobbio and Amintore Fanfani) and five voted against (Giulio Andreotti, Francesco De Martino, Giovanni Spadolini, Paolo Emilio Taviani and Leo Valiani). The Senate finally gave Berlusconi 159 votes in favour and 153 against.^[5]

Further reading

• Carter, Nick (1998). Italy: The Demise of Post-War Partyocracy. State University of New York Press. pp. 71–94. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
• Diamanti, Ilvo; Mannheimer, Renato, eds. (1994). Milano a Roma: guida all'Italia elettorale del 1994. Donzelli.
• Parker, Simon (1996). Electoral reform and political change in Italy, 1991–1994. Routledge. pp. 40–56. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)

References

1. "As Italy Votes, Golden Career Of Berlusconi Is at Crossroads". Wall Street Journal. 30 March 2006.
2. "Italian Election, The Prelude". The American. 1 April 2006. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
3. Griffin, Roger (1996). "The 'Post-Fascism' of the Alleanza Nazionale: A Case Study in Ideological Morphology". Journal of Political Ideologies. 1 (2): 123–145. doi:10.1080/13569319608420733. 'AN's ideological tap-root is still thrust deep into historical Fascism... retaining many Fascist core values
4. "Elezioni della Camera dei Deputati del 27 Marzo 1994" (in Italian). Italian Chamber of Deputies. Archived from the original on 2009-06-12.
5. "Il Sole 24 Ore - Nel 1994 decisivi per Berlusconi tre senatori a vita". Archived from the original on 2017-02-03. Retrieved 2007-03-30.

Notes

1. taking into account the Senators for life, which accounted for 10 seats at the time the election took place
2. Occhetto served as secretary of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) from 1988 to 1991. In February 1991, he was appointed secretary of PCI's heir, the Democratic Party of the Left (PDS).
3. Segni ran also in the single-member constituency of Sassari but he lost, being then elected in the closed list proportional representation system.
4. Pole of Good Government only
5. Pole of Freedoms only
6. Confederation with Forza Italia
7. Running with the Democratic Party of the Left
8. Running with the Italian Socialist Party
9. 6 out of the 30 MPs elected on the Forza Italia list were members of the Christian Democratic Centre.
10. Including 6 deputies of the Reformers, 4 deputies of the Union of the Centre (UdC) and 2 deputies of the Liberal Democratic Pole (PLD).
11. Emiddio Novi, elected in Campania for National Alliance, was member of Forza Italia, and he joined his party after the election.
12. Andrea Merlotti, elected in Lombardy for the Northern League, was member of Forza Italia, and he joined his party after the election.
13. Fabiano Crucianelli, elected in Latium for the PDS, was member of the Communist Refoundation Party, and he joined his party after the election.
14. Including 8 deputies of the Social Christians party.
15. Including 1 deputy of the Socialist Rebirth.
16. 6,570,468 votes for the Pole of Freedoms (in Northern Italy), 4,544,573 votes for the Pole of Good Government (in Southern Italy), 2,077,934 votes for National Alliance (in Northern Italy) and 149,965 votes for Forza Italia–CCD (in Abruzzo)
17. 19.87% of the votes for the Pole of Freedoms, 13.74% of the votes for the Pole of Good Government, 6.28% of the votes for National Alliance and 0.45% of the votes for Forza Italia–CCD
18. Including 2 senators of the Union of the Centre and 1 senator of the Reformers.
19. Including 6 senators of the Social Christians party.
20. Including 1 senator of the Socialist Rebirth.

External links

• (in Italian) Minister of Internal Affairs of Italy: 1994 Election Results, Chamber of Deputies - uninominal (compressed ZIP file)
• (in Italian) Ministry of Internal Affairs of Italy: 1994 Election Results, Chamber of Deputies - proportional
• (in Italian) Minister of Internal Affairs of Italy: 1994 Election Results, Senate of the Republic